Nyc Water Tainted With Plutonium

July 27, 1985|United Press International

NEW YORK — Cancer-causing plutonium was discovered in New York City`s drinking water after the city received an anonymous letter threatening to contaminate the water supply if charges against accused subway gunman Bernhard Goetz were not dropped, officials said Friday.

Mayor Edward Koch and Health Commissioner Dr. David Sencer announced the contamination at a City Hall news conference but urged the public not to panic over the plutonium in the water -- which they called safe for human consumption.

Sencer said the contamination amounted to thousands of times below the safety level set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Koch said the plutonium was detected in late May, after the city received a letter from someone threatening to contaminate the water supply if charges against accused subway gunman Bernhard Goetz were not dropped.

Goetz, who is white, is charged with shooting four black youths who he said tried to rob him last year.

The contamination was revealed Friday after officials learned a newspaper already had the story.